


Don't Fool yourself

by ComeAlongDoctor



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dark Swan, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 19:19:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7186847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComeAlongDoctor/pseuds/ComeAlongDoctor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Don't fool yourself Regina. You don't want the thief anymore than I want the pirate."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Fool yourself

**Author's Note:**

> So this was just a one off random thought I had to put on paper. But let me know if you want to see more and I might continue.

Regina sat in her crypt surrounded by her hearts and spell books, head in her hands. She had wanted so badly to be the savior Storybrook needed- but in her heart she knew she would always be the Evil Queen. No amount of good deeds or heartfelt apologies could change who and what she was at her core. Her heart was dark, and there was no going back from that.

“Life got you down Regina?”

The brunette tried her best to not jump at the sudden intrusion. Dark ones capitalized on weakness and fear. Regina looked up, carding her fingers through her hair and pushing it back, to see Emma Swan standing in front of her. Her hair, now white, was pulled back into a severe bun and her black crocodile leather hugged her frame better than any red jacket ever did. 

“What do you want Miss. Swan.”

The Dark One leaned her shoulder against the cool stone of the crypt, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why so formal Mayor Mills?”

Emma was mocking her. And not in any playful way like she used to. This was cruel- this was just another game to her. 

“When you start acting like Emma again I’ll lose the Miss.”

“That Emma is gone. All of you failed. And now, you’re stuck with me.” Emma took a deep bow, leather creaking as she moved.

Regina got to her feet, rolling her shoulders back-making herself as tall as she possibly could. Staring the Dark One square in the face. 

“This isn’t you.”

“You’re right. I’m different. I’m better.”

Regina sighed. This argument would go nowhere. 

“You’re not better Emma. You’re the Dark One, so don’t try to play that game. Magic like this comes at a price. Trust me I know. The more you give in, the harder it will be to get you back.”

A small smile pulled at the corner of Emma’s mouth. For a second there it almost reminded Regina of the real Emma. Before everything. Before Emma Swan took a, proverbial, magic bullet for her and got her name etched onto the ornate dagger. 

“Oh Regina. Self righteous Regina. Desperately trying to convince herself and everyone else she’s no longer the Evil Queen who has destroyed countless lives, crushed hearts to dust in her leather clad hands, and smiled as she killed on whimsy. I don’t know what’s sadder, watching you trying and convince them out there, or deluding yourself into thinking you’ll ever be anything but what you are. Dark.”

Regina tried not to flinch. The comments hit too close to home for comfort. When Rumplestiltskin had said these things they didn’t cut nearly as deep. But now it was Emma’s face staring back at her. And if she was being honest with herself Emma had been right earlier at the wharf, this town no longer had a savior. The idea that she could be a hero was a delusion. 

“Again, what do you want Miss Swan? I really do hate repeating myself. Maybe you should have your hearing checked.” Confidence, she needed that. The Dark One’s preyed on the weak, and Regina had fought tooth and nail her entire life to be anything but weak.

“I can’t just check in on you. Have a girl heart to heart? Maybe we can braid each others’ hair?”

“We both know that your heart is secure somewhere, out of your chest and shielded by magic. Can’t have a heart to heart if neither of our hearts are present. So I repeat myself again. What do you want?”

Emma used her shoulder to push off of the wall and straighten to her full height.

‘See you don’t remember Regina, but we used to be a lot closer.”

“Yes, you used to be my friend.”

A grin tugged at Emma’s lips again, expanding to a full smile that didn’t reach her cold eyes. 

“No no,” She ticked her index finger back and forth, “See, in Camelot you and I got quite a bit closer.” By the time she was finished with her sentence she had backed Regina up against the table behind the brunette. Causing Regina’s to bow her back a bit to avoid as much contact as possible. 

“Kind of like this.” Emma leaned forwards to invade more of Regina’s personal space. 

“Well I wouldn’t know now would I? You stole those memories from us.”

“Yes well,” Emma flourished her hand, producing a small dream catcher from a cloud of black smoke. “Time to fix that.”

A beam of white energy poured from the dream catcher, pushing into Regina’s mind before she could protest or summon any sort of protection spell. 

The two of them were no longer in Regina’s crypt. They were in Merlin’s apothecary. Emma looked normal, for the most part, but her fatigue was evident by the dark circles under her eyes and she seemed to hide as much as she could in the oversized cloak. The Dark One’s dagger was holstered securely by the belt around Regina’s red dress. Emma had given it to her as a safety measure.

“Regina…thank you.”

The brunette didn’t look up from the dusty book that smelled of ancient times long since passed, “thank you for what Emma?”

“I gave you that dagger because you’re the only one who will be willing to do what needs to be done. My parents…Hook- they all think true love and light magic will save the day no matter what. But you and I both know- sometimes it just can’t be done. Sometimes the darkness wins and the only way to keep everyone safe is to snuff it out.” Emma took a few steps closer and looked Regina square in the eyes. 

“You see me for me. You always have. You see what’s happening and you’re under no illusions about what might happen if we can’t free Merlin. I guess I never appreciated that until now. You see things as they are, not as you want them to be. You always have. And now you know this might be a fight I can’t win.”

“Emma I-I know the pull of the darkness. The want to give into every impulse- good and bad. It’s so easy to just stay there, to keep going on that path and let it consume you. But I will save you. And if I can’t…I’ll do what you’ve asked of me.” Regina thought of the dagger at her hip. It was the last option. But it may, at some point, be their only option.

Emma smiled, it was weary but there was a small amount of hope in her eyes, she had a guarantee. A plan so she would never hurt anyone she loved.

One last step closer put her square with Regina. Before the brunette registered what was happening Emma’s lips where on her own. The small of her back bumped into the table behind her leaving Regina nowhere to go. She should push Emma way. She loved Robin…. didn’t she? But something about the kiss felt so right. Like everything was falling into place and this was how it was always meant to be all along even if she never saw it. For a second, just a second, she gave into the kiss- threading her fingers through Emma’s wavy hair, tugging her closer. 

But there was that nagging feeling- this wasn’t Emma. Not the Emma she knew. She was tired and desperate and Regina was taking advantage of that. 

With a small groan Regina pulled them apart with a firm press to the blondes’ shoulders.

“Emma stop, this isn’t you.” Regina felt like a broken record.

“It is me Regina. You just said it. I’m indulging every impulse. I’ve wanted to do that since the day we met, since I took a chainsaw to your apple tree, since I saved you from the dark one and my name got stuck on the dagger. I tried to drowned myself in Neil, Hook, anyone. To hide from it. But you were always there. But how could the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming possibly care for the Evil Queen? How the hell would that work? I was afraid. Afraid of rejection, afraid of everyone else's opinions, afraid of everything. That’s not me anymore. I’m not afraid.”

Regina sighed a bit; she wasn’t quite sure what to say. If she was being honest with herself, somewhere, buried deep, she agreed with Emma. Felt everything she felt. But there wasn’t time for any of this. She had a duty to save the savior. And once all was said and done, who knew if these emotions would still exist, or if she would love Captain Guy liner again. 

Regina blinked a few times. The white beam of light had receded back into the dream catcher which Emma sent away with a flourish of black smoke. She was back in her crypt, The Dark One in front of her wearing the guise of Emma Swan eyes boring into Regina expectantly. 

“This is me Regina. Everything I said to you in Camelot was true. No tricks, no loopholes, no lies. Don’t fool yourself Regina. You don’t want the thief anymore than I want the pirate. Think of it, the Dark One and the Evil queen standing together again. The power we could wield.”

“That woman is gone.”

“And that. Mayor Mills. Is the lie you tell yourself so you can sleep at night. But in here.” Emma tapped her own temple, “are all the Dark Ones that ever were. And one in particular remembers the glory that was the Evil Queen.” Emma stared at her pointedly.

“Fine. How about this Regina-“ A plume of black smoke engulfed The Dark One and in its wake stood Emma. Blonde hair down, red leather jacket gloriously snug like it used to be, and a simple pair of jeans. Regina’s heart tightened, it was almost enough to fool her. 

“Does this make you more comfortable?” Emma took a step forwards, pressing Regina’s back into the table again. “Don’t deny what you feel. Embrace it. Embrace me. As I am.” Emma closed the gap between their lips but was met with Regina’s cheek as the brunette spurned her advances. 

“I may have failed you in Camelot Miss Swan but I won’t fail you now. Do I have feelings for you? Yes. But those feelings are for Emma Swan, not the Dark One.”

Emma took a deep breath through her nose, stepping backwards as the smoke engulfed her once more. Blonde hair was white again-pulled back into its signature severe bun, red leather replaced by black, and that smile that was oh so Emma was now tight and aloof. The look was nothing if not disquieting. 

“I will have your heart Regina. Even if that means it has to make its home in one of those ornate wooden boxes you love oh so much. A protection spell won’t keep me at bay forever my queen.”

The Dark One turned her back, hand already up to summon a teleportation spell. “Oh.” She turned to look over her shoulder. “Say hello to the thief for me will you? And don’t forget to remind yourself of how much you love him. Should help you sleep soundly at night.”

The dark one snapped her fingers and the smoke engulfed her, leaving an empty space where she had been standing moments ago. 

The second she was gone Regina’s shoulders sagged. She had never really given it much thought. Had never pined over Emma the way the pirate always was. Maybe she was just ignoring it. Pushing the ideas back so they stayed hidden. She thought she was in love with Robin, but now it was entirely possible she had been fooling herself since the savior drove into town in that god awful yellow bug. Well. Shit.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments always loved!


End file.
